[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 249 (Tuesday, December 29, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 81321-81323]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-32738]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OA-2015-0245; FRL-9940-73-OA]


Notification of Teleconferences of the Science Advisory Board; 
Hydraulic Fracturing Research Advisory Panel

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The EPA Science Advisory Board (SAB) Staff Office announces 
four public teleconferences of the SAB Hydraulic Fracturing Research 
Advisory Panel as part of the peer review of the EPA draft report, 
Assessment of the Potential Impacts of Hydraulic Fracturing for Oil and 
Gas on Drinking Water Resources, (May, 2015 External Review Draft, EPA/
600/R-15/047).

DATES: The public teleconferences will be held on the following dates: 
Monday, February 1, 2016 from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00

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p.m. (Eastern Time); Tuesday, February 2, 2016 from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 
p.m. (Eastern Time); Monday, March 7, 2016 from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. 
(Eastern Time); and Thursday, March 10, 2016 from 12:00 p.m. to 6:00 
p.m. (Eastern Time).

ADDRESSES: The teleconferences will be conducted by telephone only.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Members of the public who wish to 
obtain further information regarding these public teleconferences may 
contact Edward Hanlon, Designated Federal Officer, by telephone: (202) 
564-2134 or email at [email protected]. The SAB mailing address is: 
U.S. EPA Science Advisory Board (1400R), U.S. Environmental Protection 
Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20460. General 
information about the SAB, including information concerning the SAB 
teleconferences announced in this notice, may be found on the SAB Web 
site at http://www.epa.gov/sab.
    Technical Contact for EPA's Draft Report: Any technical questions 
concerning EPA's draft report should be directed to Dr. Jeffrey 
Frithsen, National Center for Environmental Assessment, Office of 
Research and Development, U.S. EPA, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Mail 
Code 8601P, Washington, DC 20460, telephone (703) 347-8623 or via email 
at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Background: The SAB was established pursuant to the Environmental 
Research, Development, and Demonstration Authorization Act (ERDDAA), 
codified at 42 U.S.C. 4365, to provide independent scientific and 
technical advice to the Administrator on the technical basis for Agency 
positions and regulations. The SAB is a Federal Advisory Committee 
chartered under the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), 5 U.S.C., 
App. 2. The SAB will comply with the provisions of FACA and all 
appropriate SAB Staff Office procedural policies. Pursuant to FACA and 
EPA policy, notice is hereby given that the SAB Hydraulic Fracturing 
Research Advisory Panel will hold four public teleconferences as part 
of the peer review of the EPA draft report, Assessment of the Potential 
Impacts of Hydraulic Fracturing for Oil and Gas on Drinking Water 
Resources, (May, 2015 External Review Draft, EPA/600/R-15/047).
    The EPA's Office of Research and Development (ORD) has developed a 
draft assessment report concerning the relationship between hydraulic 
fracturing and drinking water in the United States. The purpose of the 
report, Assessment of the Potential Impacts of Hydraulic Fracturing for 
Oil and Gas on Drinking Water Resources, (May, 2015 External Review 
Draft, EPA/600/R-15/047), is to synthesize available scientific 
literature and data to assess the potential for hydraulic fracturing 
for oil and gas to impact the quality or quantity of drinking water 
resources, and identify factors affecting the frequency or severity of 
any potential impacts. As noticed in 80 FR 32111-32113, the SAB 
Hydraulic Fracturing Research Advisory Panel held a face-to-face 
meeting on October 28-30, 2015 to conduct a peer review of the agency's 
draft report. As noticed in 80 FR 69652-69653, the SAB Hydraulic 
Fracturing Research Advisory Panel held a public teleconference on 
December 3, 2015, to complete agenda items from the October 28-30, 
2015, Panel meeting.
    The purpose of the February 1, 2016, public teleconference is for 
the SAB Hydraulic Fracturing Research Advisory Panel to discuss its 
draft report regarding its peer review of the agency's draft report. If 
the SAB Staff Office determines that there will be insufficient time 
during the February 1, 2016, teleconference for the Panel to complete 
discussion on its draft report or to accommodate the members of the 
public who registered in advance to provide oral public comments, the 
teleconference on February 2, 2016, will be held to provide additional 
time for the Panel's discussions or for oral public comments. The 
purpose of the March 7, 2016, teleconference is for the SAB Hydraulic 
Fracturing Research Advisory Panel to further discuss its draft report 
regarding its peer review of the agency's draft report. If the SAB 
Staff Office determines that there will be insufficient time during the 
March 7, 2016, teleconference for the Panel to complete discussion on 
its draft report or to accommodate the members of the public who 
registered in advance to provide oral public comments, the 
teleconference on March 10, 2016, will be held to provide additional 
time for the Panel's discussions or for oral public comments.
    Availability of Meeting Materials: Additional background on this 
SAB activity, the teleconference agendas, draft panel report, and other 
materials for the teleconferences will be posted on the SAB Web site at 
http://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/02ad90b136fc21ef85256eba00436459/f7a9db9abbac015785257e540052dd54!OpenDocument&Highlight=0,hydraulic,fracturing in advance of the teleconferences.
    Procedures for Providing Public Input: Federal advisory committees 
and panels, including scientific advisory committees, provide 
independent advice to the EPA. Interested members of the public may 
submit relevant information on the topic of this advisory activity, 
and/or the group conducting the activity, for the SAB to consider 
during the advisory process. Input from the public to the SAB will have 
the most impact if it provides specific scientific or technical 
information or analysis for SAB committees and panels to consider or if 
it relates to the clarity or accuracy of the technical information.
    Throughout the Panel review process, there will be opportunities 
for the public to provide comments. For example, the public was invited 
to provide comments to the Docket on the EPA's charge questions to the 
SAB and the draft EPA report and provide oral statements to the Panel 
during the Panel teleconferences and meeting, and will have opportunity 
to provide comments to the Docket on the draft EPA report and the SAB 
Panel's draft report, provide oral statements to the Panel during 
upcoming Panel teleconferences, and provide oral and written comments 
in preparation for quality review of the SAB Panel's draft report by 
the Chartered SAB. Members of the public wishing to provide written 
comments may submit them to the EPA Docket electronically via 
www.regulations.gov, by email, by mail, by facsimile, or by hand 
delivery/courier. Please follow the detailed instructions provided in 
the written statements section of this notice. Members of the public 
wishing to provide oral statements to the SAB Panel should contact the 
DFO directly.
    Oral Statements: In general, individuals or groups requesting to 
present an oral statement at a public teleconference will be limited to 
three minutes per speaker. To be placed on the public speaker list for 
the February 1, 2016, teleconference, interested parties should notify 
Mr. Edward Hanlon, DFO, by email no later than January 25, 2016. To be 
placed on the public speaker list for the March 7, 2016 teleconference, 
interested parties should notify Mr. Edward Hanlon, DFO, by email no 
later than February 29, 2016. Written Statements: Written statements 
for the February 1, 2016, teleconference should be received in the EPA 
Docket by January 21, 2016, so that the information may be made 
available to the SAB Panel sufficiently in advance of the 
teleconference for the Panel's consideration. Written statements for 
the March 7, 2016, teleconference should be received in the EPA Docket 
by February 22, 2016, so that the

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information may be made available to the SAB Panel sufficiently in 
advance of the teleconference for the Panel's consideration.
    Written statements should be identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OA-
2015-0245 and submitted to the Docket at www.regulations.gov by one of 
the following methods:
     www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line instructions for 
submitting comments.
     EMail: [email protected]: Include the docket number in 
the subject line of the message.
     Mail: Office of Environmental Information (OEI) Docket 
(Mail Code: 28221T), Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OA-2015-0245, U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW., 
Washington, DC 20460. The phone number is (202) 566-1752.
     Hand Delivery: The OEI Docket is located in the EPA 
headquarters Docket Center, Room 3334, EPA West Building, 1301 
Constitution Ave. NW., Washington, DC. The EPA Docket Center Public 
Reading Room is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through 
Friday, excluding legal holidays. The telephone number for the Public 
Reading Room is (202) 566-1744. Deliveries are only accepted during the 
docket's normal hours of operation, and special arrangements should be 
made for deliveries of boxed information.
     Fax: (202) 566-9744
    Public comments submitted after January 21, 2016 for the February 
1, 2016, teleconference will be marked late, and should be submitted to 
the Docket by email, mail, hand delivery or fax (see detailed 
instructions above). Public comments submitted after February 22, 2016 
for the March 7, 2016, teleconference will be marked late, and should 
be submitted to the Docket by email, mail, hand delivery or fax (see 
detailed instructions above). Consistent with SAB Staff Office general 
practice, comments received after January 21, 2016 for the February 1, 
2016, teleconference, and after February 22, 2016 for the March 7, 
2016, teleconference, will be made available to the SAB Panel as soon 
as practicable.
    It is EPA's policy to include all comments received in the public 
docket without change and to make the comments available on-line at 
www.regulations.gov, including any personal information provided, 
unless a comment includes information claimed to be Confidential 
Business Information (CBI) or other information whose disclosure is 
restricted by statute. Do not submit information that you consider to 
be CBI or otherwise protected through www.regulations.gov or email. The 
www.regulations.gov Web site is an ``anonymous access'' system, which 
means EPA will not know your identity or contact information unless you 
provide it in the body of your comment. If you send an email directly 
to EPA without going through www.regulations.gov, your email address 
will be automatically captured and included as part of the comment that 
is placed in the public docket and made available on the Internet. If 
you submit an electronic comment, EPA recommends that you include your 
name and other contact information in the body of your comment and with 
any disk or CD-ROM you submit. If EPA cannot read your comments due to 
technical difficulties and cannot contact you for clarification, the 
SAB Panel may not be able to consider your comments. Electronic files 
should avoid the use of special characters and any form of encryption 
and be free of any defects or viruses. For additional information about 
EPA's public docket, visit the EPA Docket Center homepage at 
www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm.
    Documents in the docket are listed in the www.regulations.gov 
index. Although listed in the index, some information is not publicly 
available, e.g., CBI or other information whose disclosure is 
restricted by statute. Certain other material, such as copyrighted 
material will be publicly available only in hard copy. Publicly 
available docket materials are available either electronically at 
www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at the OEI Docket in the EPA 
Headquarters Docket Center.
    Accessibility: For information on access or services for 
individuals with disabilities, please contact Mr. Edward Hanlon at the 
phone number or email address noted above, preferably at least ten days 
prior to the meeting to give EPA as much time as possible to process 
your request.

    Dated: December 22, 2015.
Thomas H. Brennan,
 Deputy Director, EPA Science Advisory Board Staff Office.
[FR Doc. 2015-32738 Filed 12-28-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6560-50-P